Furnace-arch.



entrain sraras Parana cr mes- JOHN S. S. FULTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED STOKEIRS CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FURNACE-ARCH.

To all whom it may concern a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnace-Arches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates toimprovements in suspended arches used for igniting purposes in furnaces, and especially in steel heating furnaces and in furnaces employing automatic stokers.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction'and arrangement of a suspended flat arch so that it may be easily and quickly repaired at small cost, and may be adapted to any width of furnace.

A further object is to eliminate all setscrews, bolts or threaded members which quickly burn or corrode fast in service.

I accomplish this object by a novel arrangement of the fire brickportions of the arch and the suspension clamping devices therefor, which require no machine work whatever, all of which will be described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through a furnace equipped with my improved suspended arch;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of'the structure of Fig. 1, showing the suspension clamps more in detail, the section being taken along the line 22 of 3; y

Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional elevation of the arch along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of my improved quick detachable suspension clamps;

Figs. 5 and 6 are end and side views, respectively, of the suspension clamps shown in Fig. 4; and,

Fig. 7 \is a section along the line 77 of Fig. 6, with another cooperating suspension clamp shown in dotted lines.

L Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that my improved suspended flat arch is shown in connection with an automatic stoker of the traveling grate type. The grate 10 is moved, by mechanism, not shown, through the combustion chamber 11, the fuel being fed to the upper surface of the grate through the hopper 12, containing the verti-' Specification of Letters Patent.

' cally adjustable gate 13 which regulates the rate of fuel feed or the depth of fuel on the grate surface.

On entering the combustion chamber through the feed gate, the fuel passes immediately' under the flat arch 14, which is constructed and suspended in a manner to be hereinafter described. This arch becoming intensely heated, ignites the fuel by radiation, and makes the front end of the furnace a 'reverberatory chamber. The volatile matter is distilled from the fuel, and passing back over the incandescent fuel is completely consumed.

The igniting arch is made up of a plurality of interlocking fire bricks 15 of a standard section, each brick being provided with a projection 16 on one side and a recess 17 on the'opposite side, the projection 16 on one brick fitting into the corresponding recess 17 in the adjacent brick. The bricks have also formed thereon the shoulders 18 which engage the flanges 19 of the inverted T-section steel bars 20. These steel bars 20 extend practically the full length of the arch between adjacent rows of fire brick, and have their web portions projecting above the brick. The bars are secured in suspended position to the lower flanges 21 and 22 of the transverse I-beams 23 by means of my quickly attachable and detachable suspension clamps 24. Two of these clamps 24 cooperate to form a clamping device which- Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

Application filed October 31, 1917. Serial No. 199,577.

The lower oflset portion 26 has an opening 28 formed therethrough to receive the supporting pin 29, which also passes through an opening 30 in the longitudinal bar 20. The two clamps 24, which cooperate to form the suspension clamping device, are duplicates, and are assembled by placing one of the hook-like extensions 25' over the flange 22 and the opposing hook-like extension 25 over the ,flange 21, the extensions being slightly removed from one another longitu:

dinally of the beam 23, and then moving the clamps toward each other longitudinally of the beam until the corresponding lugs 27 interlock, and the openings 28 of the two offset portions 26 are in alinement with the opening 30 on opposite sides of the bar 20. The pin-29 is then placed in position in the openings 28 and 30, and held against endwise movement by the cotter pins 31. It Will thus be seen that the clamps are held against movement relatively toeach other and to the beam 23 either laterally or longitudinally by the cooperation of the interlocking lugs 27 and the means employed for preventing these lugs from becoming disengaged. When it is desired to remove the clamps, the pin 29 is removed, and the clamps are moved apart longitudinally of the beam.

The flat arch herein illustrated and described is simple and compact, easily ventilated, easily and quickly repaired, either locally or entirely, and the supporting or suspending elements require no machine work whatever, all set-screws, bolts or threaded members having been-eliminated. The arch may be set horizontal, or at any angle desired. It may be adapted to any width of furnace by changing the lengths of the beams 23, and adding or subtracting rows of fire brick with the proper number of bars 20 and their suspension clamps 24.

Although I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention,-

it must be understood that many modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope, as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as new is 1. In a furnace, a flat arch made up of a plurality of fire bricks, each provided with a shoulder, a longitudinally arranged bar engaging said shoulders 'and projecting above the fire bricks, a transverse beam above said bar, and a pair of suspension clamps, each having a body portion and an upper hook-shaped portion for engaging said beam and a lower offset extension for connection to said bar, and a laterally projecting lug, the lugsof the pair of clamps having parallel interlocking faces engaging With one another at right angles to the body portion to prevent positively a lateral displacement of the clamps when they are placed in operative position relative to the from the body portion, and an offset flange depending from said body portion and provided with a hole, and a lug projecting laterally from said body portion, said hookshaped portions engagingthe flange of said beam on opposite sides thereof and the offset depending flanges embracing the web portion of the T bar, and a pin extending through the opening in said web portion and theholes in said flanges in line therewith to prevent displacement of the clamps longitudinally of the beam, said lugs interlocking positively to act as the sole means for preventing a movement of' the clamps transversel of the beam.

3. g clamp for suspending a furnace arch, said clamp comprising a body portion having an upper hook-shaped portion adapted to engage a supporting beam, a laterally extending hook-shaped portion adapted to engage a corresponding hook-shaped ortion of another cooperating clamp, and a epending flange adapted to be attached to an arch supporting bar.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN s. s. FULTON. 

